RODDY MACKENZIE

A Celtic shirt draped across his shoulders as he emerged from the cramped New York Giants' locker-room at Wembley on Sunday night, Lawrence Tynes gave the impression that he is as much a frustrated soccer player as an American football kicker.

Nineteen years after he left Campbeltown with his parents for Florida, Tynes still hankers after his Scottish roots. He is proud to be the first Scot to play in the NFL and the irony, as a Celtic supporter, of helping the "Big Blue" to their sixth successive win with a pair of field goals in the 13-10 win over Miami Dolphins does not escape him.

Asked if he would prefer kicking field goals for the Giants or taking penalties for Celtic, there is no hesitation. The latter.

Yet here is Tynes, 29, a clean-cut ambassador for American football as it seeks to extend its horizons, Sunday's Wembley match being the first regular-season game played outside of North America.

On a soggy night, Tynes is not the first Scot to tear up the Wembley turf (albeit unintentionally) but in spite of the London gloom, the Greenock-born player is optimistic about future games in the United Kingdom, after this clash drew 81,176.

He had the distinction of kicking the first points in the historic game, a simple 20-yard field goal, although conditions deteriorated to such an extent that nothing was straightforward and, in the final quarter, he missed a 29-yard field goal ("my back foot slipped 18 inches") which would have put the Giants 16-3 ahead and out of sight.

"It was good to score the first points here," he said. "I thought about that; I started my career here in the UK with the Scottish Claymores back in 2002 at Hampden Park and I put the first points on the boards in the first NFL game here. It was pretty cool.

"It was an exciting night for me to run out at Wembley. I started off well but, unfortunately, I slipped a bit on the third kick.

"But the field was just a mess. Fortunately, I made two out of three and that proved to be the difference in the game.

"The field really cut up in the third and fourth quarters. Fortunately, we were able to put over a couple of field goals and score a touchdown and that was the difference.

"I was sceptical at first about a game coming here but this crowd was phenomenal. They knew when to cheer and they knew when to boo and whistle and it was a lot different than I thought it was going to be.

"It was a lot of fun and it was as loud as any game in the NFL."

Tynes was unable to get any tickets for his relatives, who reside around the Greenock area, as, with the Dolphins the home team, Giants' players were not allocated any tickets. Even in his informal role promoting the game, there were no tickets put his way by the NFL, a curious oversight given how meticulous their plans were to ensure Sunday's match went off without any hitches.

"I didn't realise until very late on that we didn't get tickets so none of my relations came down. But I think they all had a pretty good seat back in Scotland watching it on television," Tynes reasoned.

"I think that this can be an annual trip for teams. I don't think you can make the same team go every year.

"Miami basically gave up their home game and that was tough to do. They came to a tough place to play and we were on a winning streak and they had lost seven in a row.

"Overall, I think the guys handled it well and I think, in the future, this will be a game that's played every year.

"It's a boost going into the bye week 6-2. Winning six in a row is hard to do and credit to everyone in this team and the coaching staff.

"Everyone's put in a lot of work but we get to rest up next week and then get ready for Dallas."

Tynes and the Giants returned home yesterday with any disruption to their schedule kept to a minimum.

The kicker was just happy to have played his part in NFL's future and planted the Saltire at Wembley.

"I think I have more goals than any Scots here in the past 30 years," he joked, before leaving with his Giants' team-mates to head home as they build towards a play-off place.